Our stories

Tackling inequality through credit unions

Quakers in North Wales are putting their faith into action to combat inequality by supporting individual Quakers and meetings to get involved in local credit unions.

Members of Ludlow Quaker Meeting opening up accounts at one of their local credit union offices. Photo credit: Margaret Bennett

The North Wales Credit Union Group have developed a 3 stage strategy to support Quakers to get involved with local credit unions. Initially we will work with individual Friends and meetings to find out how involved Quakers currently are with credit unions. We will then share that information with all Quaker meetings in Britain before offering support to get Friends more involved with credit unions.

Access to financial services

The North Wales Credit Union Group was set up following a workshop on money in 2015. The members of our group feel called to put our faith into action to combat inequality. One way this manifests is through lack of access to financial services. We are led by the belief that one way in which our society could promote equality in Britain is to encourage and promote the use of credit unions. Credit unions provide a range of ethical savings and loans products at fair interest rates, thereby preventing the need for people to turn in desperation to high interest legal and illegal money lenders. We aim to encourage Friends to become more involved in their local credit unions.

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Credit unions provide a range of ethical savings and loans products at fair interest rates, thereby preventing the need for people to turn in desperation to high interest legal and illegal money lenders.

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Exploring ethical finance

Since the summer of 2015 we have spent many hours talking with, and learning from established credit unions; visiting local credit unions, attending training days for credit union board of directors and working closely with the Association of British Credit Unions. We have also had a Quaker Peace & Social Witness workshop on Your Faith Your Finance, which helped us to look further at a number of different ethical and sustainable finance options.

We hope that the activity of the North Wales Credit Union Group will not only provide a link between central work and local meetings, but will also provide a meaningful link between local meetings and our local communities, as well as useful outreach into our local communities and into financial institutions.